• (RP) IPA: /əbˈskjʊə(ɹ)/, /əbˈskjɔː(ɹ)/
• (GA) IPA: /əbˈskjʊɹ/, /əbˈskjɝ/

obscure (comparative obscurer, superlative obscurest)

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.
   • , (translator), Dante Alighieri, Divine_Comedy#Inferno, 1, 1-2

     I found myself in an obscure wood.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Proverbs 20:20 ↗:

     His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene iii]:

     The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night.

   • the obscure corners of the earth

3. Difficult to understand.

   an obscure passage or inscription;    The speaker made obscure references to little-known literary works.

4. Not well-known.
5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.

   The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.

• (dark) cimmerian, dingy; See also Thesaurus:dark
• (faint or indistinct) fuzzy, ill-defined; See also Thesaurus:indistinct
• (hidden, out of sight) occluded, secluded; See also Thesaurus:hidden
• (difficult to understand) fathomless, inscrutable; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
• (not well-known) enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious; See also Thesaurus:arcane

• clear

• obscurity
• obscuration

• French: obscur
• German: obskur, dunkel, vernebelt, finster, düster, undeutlich, unklar, unbestimmt, zweifelhaft, dahergelaufen
• Italian: oscuro
• Portuguese: obscuro
• Russian: тёмный
• Spanish: obscuro

• German: unbedeutend, versteckt, verborgen, unsichtbar, schleierhaft, unbekannt
• Italian: nascosto, oscurato
• Russian: скры́тый

• French: sibyllin
• German: unverständlich
• Italian: confuso, poco chiaro, vago, indistinto
• Russian: непоня́тный

• Russian: малоизве́стный

obscure (obscures, present participle obscuring; past and past participle obscured)

1. (transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene iii]:

     They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights.

   • There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured by the writings of learned men as this.

2. (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
   • 1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62

     I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.
   • 1623 (first performance)​, John Fletcher; William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: Printed for Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, OCLC 3083972 ↗, Act 4, scene 2:

     How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.

• (to render obscure; to darken; dim) becloud, bedarken, bedim, bemist

• French: obscurcir
• German: verdunkeln, vernebeln, verunklaren, verwirren
• Russian: затемня́ть

• French: obscurcir
• German: verschleiern, verdecken, verbergen
• Russian: скрыва́ть
• Spanish: esconder, ocultar